As tropical storms go, Colin may not be much more than a footnote
in the weather records but he has turned out be a major disaster for Mayor Rick
Kriseman and his City Hall team.

Watch the videos closely and you will see Ben Kirby, Kriseman
communication Director and Kevin King, Chief of Staff, walking in circles as
try to figure out what to do and say, while Kriseman looks like deer in the headlights
as he tries to spin the situation in real time.

Claude Tankersly Kriseman's recently hired Public Works
Administrator seemed to error on the side of honesty when he admitted there was
raw sewage going into Clam Bayou, a statement which was then disputed by
Kriseman.

Kirby posted a statement about the nature of the diluted effluent
being released, which had to be walked back later.

The long and short of it is you could not believe a thing any of
the senior staff or the Mayor was saying. There was a great deal more concern
about the politics than the event.

Case in point was the decision to not make any form of public
announcement or notify the City of Gulfport and refusing to make dump numbers
public.

"No public record exists," said Public Works
Administrator Claude Tankersley. Actual they did.

Where is Mike Connors when you need him?

All of this should make St. Pete citizens a bit nervous about
just how much they can count on or trust the Kriseman team in a real emergency.

Kriseman and his dream team have had a relative easy run up to
this point. No major disasters or serious storms up to now. To say they did not
handle Colin well is an understatement.

Kriseman's decision to surround himself with a group of advisors
in the office of the Mayor who have no practical experience and view everything
through the eye of politics is finally coming back to haunt him. Kriseman
should be paying more attention to Claude Tankersly and less to Kevin King.

Under no circumstances should a writer/blogger more interested in
the Mayors' reelection than the facts issue an un-vetted statement that affects
the public's health and safety. In situations like these, "word
smithing" is never a good idea.

Kriseman and his
"office of the Mayor" have been running on fumes since they walked
through the City Hall doors. They were not ready when they took office and it
seems they have learned very little in almost two years.